Support bracket

ABSTRACT

A bracket for cantilever support of an electrical component within a rack. The bracket includes a generally horizontal component support member attached to a generally vertical cantilever member having a front edge attached to an attachment member. The attachment members of a corresponding pair of such brackets are attached to a corresponding front pair of stanchions of a rack at a desired elevation. A space between the corresponding component support members allows for vertical ventilation through the rack. A stiffening member is provided along the component support member to provide additional strength. The cantilever member may be tapered in height and may include an aperture for facilitating the horizontal flow of ventilation air through the rack.

[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 29/131064, filed on Oct. 13, 2000.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention relates generally to the field of rack mounted electrical equipment, and, more particularly, to a cantilever support bracket for supporting an electrical cabinet by attachment to only the front stanchions of a rack.

[0003] Many different types of electronic and computer equipment are housed in racks that provide both physical support and space for ventilation between adjacent pieces of equipment. The Electronic Industries Association (EIA) specifies the requirements for equipment rack designs. A typical rack includes an interior space defined by four vertically disposed stanchions with interconnecting upper and lower support brackets. The vertical stanchions generally have a plurality of holes formed therein to facilitate the attachment of equipment and/or support brackets at any of a variety of heights within the rack. Support brackets are often attached to the stanchions, with the electrical component then attached to and/or supported by the support brackets. Brackets are known to include a means for sliding the electrical component from an operating position within the interior of the rack to a maintenance position at least partially disposed outside the confines of the four stanchions. One such rack mount mechanism is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,791,498 issued to Mills on Aug. 11, 1998. The rack mount mechanism of Mills is typical in that it provides for attachment to the rack at four corner locations corresponding to the four vertically disposed stanchions. The rack of Mills includes a base plate that is slideably supported between parallel rails for the mounting of an electrical component. Such an arrangement is generally expensive to manufacture, and it provides no opportunity for the vertical movement of cooling air through the rack. For many applications involving highly reliable equipment, the ease of access provided by a sliding rack is not necessary. For other applications, a low cost support system is desired. And in some applications, improved ventilation is desired.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004] Thus there is a particular need for a low cost, lightweight, inexpensive support system for mounting an electrical component within a rack. There is also a need for a rack mount mechanism for electrical components that provides improved ventilation throughout the rack.

[0005] Accordingly, a support apparatus for an electrical component is described herein as including a rack comprising a pair of spaced apart generally vertically disposed stanchions defining an opening into an interior of the rack; a pair of brackets each attached to a respective one of the pair of stanchions and extending into the interior of the rack for supporting an electrical component thereon, each bracket comprising an attachment member removeably attached to the respective stanchion; a cantilever member having a front edge attached to the attachment member and extending in a generally vertical plane into the interior of the rack; a component support member having a first edge attached to the cantilever member and extending along a depth of the cantilever member in a generally horizontal plane into the interior of the rack; and a stiffening member attached to the component support member and extending along a depth of the component support member into the interior of the rack.

[0006] A bracket for supporting an electrical component in a rack is described herein as including an attachment member adapted for attachment to a stanchion; a cantilever member having a front edge attached to the attachment member and extending in a first plane away from the attachment member; a component support member having a first edge attached to the cantilever member and extending along the cantilever member in a second plane generally perpendicular to the first plane; and a stiffening member attached to the component support member and extending along the component support member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] The features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when read with the accompanying drawings in which:

[0008]FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a component support bracket.

[0009]FIG. 2 is a partial isometric view of the bracket of FIG. 1 and a second mirror image bracket installed in an electrical equipment rack.

[0010]FIG. 3 is a side view of an electrical component supported within a rack by a cantilever support bracket.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] A bracket 10 for supporting an electrical component is illustrated in isometric view in FIG. 1 and illustrated as installed in an electrical rack 14 in FIG. 2. A second embodiment of a bracket 16 is illustrated in FIG. 3 as installed in a rack 14 and supporting an electrical component 12.

[0012] Bracket 10 includes a component support member 18 which is disposed in a generally horizontal plane for providing a component support surface 20 for at least partially supporting the weight of an electrical component 12. Component support member 18 is attached along a first edge 22 to a cantilever member 24. Cantilever member 24 extends along the component support member 18 and is, in turn, attached along a front edge 26 to an attachment member 28. Attachment member 28 is adapted for attachment to a front stanchion 30 of rack 14, as illustrated in FIG. 2. A second bracket 32, preferably a mirror image of bracket 10, is similarly attached to a second front stanchion 34 of the rack 14 at the same elevation as bracket 10. Together, the pair of brackets 10,32 provides a platform for supporting electrical component 12 within rack 14.

[0013] Bracket 10 is designed to have a depth D for extending into the interior of rack 14 while being supported in cantilever style from only a single front stanchion 30 of rack 14. Depth D is preferably selected to be somewhat smaller than the depth of commonly used racks so that a single bracket design may be utilized for supporting electrical components within a variety of racks. Similarly, the width W of component support member 18 is preferably selected to be sufficiently wide to provide an adequate support base for a variety of electrical components. Advantageously, the width W of the component support surface 20 is selected so that the pair of cantilever brackets 10,32 are spaced sufficiently apart to define a ventilation opening 36 there between. In one embodiment the width W is selected to correspond to a mating indentation on a bottom side of component 12 to facilitate the interface there between.

[0014] The height dimension of cantilever member 24 may be selected to vary along the depth of bracket 10. A first height H proximate front edge 26 may be larger than a second height h proximate a rear portion 38 of cantilever member 24. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, this height dimension tapers continuously along the depth of the cantilever member 24. As may be appreciated by viewing FIG. 3, the height dimension may be selected to facilitate the free passage of ventilation air in a horizontal direction. Electrical component 12 includes a first plurality of ventilation openings 40 on the side of its cabinet. Bracket 16 includes a cantilever member design specifically accommodating the location of ventilation openings 40. By tapering the height dimension of bracket 16 to a predetermined value, the horizontal flow of ventilating air through openings 40 may remain unblocked throughout rack 14. Similarly, electrical component 12 may include a second plurality of ventilation openings 42. The cantilever member of bracket 16 includes aperture 44 specifically located and shaped proximate ventilation openings 44 to further facilitate the horizontal flow of ventilating air. One may appreciate that cantilever member 24 may be formed of a solid piece of material, or alternatively, from a perforated material to provide a degree of horizontal ventilation throughout the surface of cantilever member 24.

[0015] To provide additional stiffness and rigidity to bracket 10, a stiffening member 46 may be attached along the depth of component support member 18. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, stiffening member 46 is disposed along a second edge 48 of component support member 18 opposed first edge 22. One may appreciate that stiffening member may be located at any location along width W and may be angled with respect to edges 22, 48. In one embodiment (not shown) stiffening member 46 may be a channel member or I-Beam member attached to a bottom or top surface of component support member 18. It may be advantageous to include a stiffening member 46 on a top surface of component support surface 20 to act as a guide for sliding component 12 into and out of the interior of rack 14. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the entire bracket 10 may be formed of a single piece of sheet material, such as aluminum or steel, which is stamped to form an appropriate outline and bent to form edges 22, 26, 48.

[0016] Attachment member 28 may be removeably connected to stanchion 30 by any known method or device. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, a plurality of holes 50 are provided for inserting bolts or screws for attaching bracket 10 to stanchion 30 and for attaching component 12 to bracket 10. Attachment member 28 may be designed to mount to a front surface of stanchion 30 as illustrated in FIG. 3, or alternatively, to mount against a rear or side surface of stanchion 30. Cantilever member 24 may include an appropriate notch 52 to ensure that component support member 18 is appropriately set back to provide room for stanchion 30. In one embodiment, brackets 10,32 may be installed onto component 12 and then installed into rack 14. In an alternative embodiment, brackets 10,32 may be installed into rack 14 and then component 12 slid into the interior of rack 14 and secured to brackets 10, 32.

[0017] While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described herein, it will be obvious that such embodiments are provided by way of example only. Numerous variations, changes and substitutions will occur to those of skill in the art without departing from the invention herein. Accordingly, it is intended that the invention be limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims. 

I claim as my invention:
 1. A support apparatus for an electrical component, the support apparatus comprising: a rack comprising a pair of spaced apart generally vertically disposed stanchions defining an opening into an interior of the rack; a pair of brackets each attached to a respective one of the pair of stanchions and extending into the interior of the rack for supporting an electrical component thereon, each bracket comprising: an attachment member removeably attached to the respective stanchion; a cantilever member having a front edge attached to the attachment member and extending in a generally vertical plane into the interior of the rack; a component support member having a first edge attached to the cantilever member and extending along a depth of the cantilever member in a generally horizontal plane into the interior of the rack; and a stiffening member attached to the component support member and extending along a depth of the component support member into the interior of the rack.
 2. The support apparatus of claim 1, further comprising the stiffening member being attached to a second edge of the component support member opposed the first edge.
 3. The support apparatus of claim 1, wherein the stiffening member comprises a second edge portion of the component support member bent to lie in a generally vertical plane.
 4. The support apparatus of claim 1, further comprising the cantilever member having a height dimension proximate the front edge that is greater than a height dimension proximate a rear portion of the cantilever member.
 5. The support apparatus of claim 1, further comprising the cantilever member having a height dimension tapering from a first larger height to a second smaller height along the depth of the cantilever member extending into the interior of the rack.
 6. The support apparatus of claim 1, further comprising the pair of cantilever brackets being spaced apart to define a ventilation opening there between.
 7. The support apparatus of claim 1, further comprising an aperture formed in the cantilever member of at least one of the pair of brackets.
 8. The support apparatus of claim 1, wherein each bracket is formed of a respective single piece of material.
 9. A bracket for supporting an electrical component in a rack, the bracket comprising: an attachment member adapted for attachment to a stanchion; a cantilever member having a front edge attached to the attachment member and extending in a first plane away from the attachment member; a component support member having a first edge attached to the cantilever member and extending along the cantilever member in a second plane generally perpendicular to the first plane; and a stiffening member attached to the component support member and extending along the component support member.
 10. The bracket of claim 9, further comprising the stiffening member being attached to a second edge of the component support member opposed the first edge.
 11. The bracket of claim 9, wherein the stiffening member comprises a second edge portion of the component support member bent to lie in a third plane generally perpendicular to the second plane.
 12. The bracket of claim 9, further comprising the cantilever member having a height dimension proximate the front edge that is greater than a height dimension proximate a rear portion of the cantilever member.
 13. The bracket of claim 9, further comprising the cantilever member having a height dimension tapering from a first larger height to a second smaller height along a length of the cantilever member extending away from the attachment member.
 14. The bracket of claim 9, further comprising an aperture formed in the cantilever member.
 15. The bracket of claim 9, wherein the bracket is formed of a single piece of material. 